


Pumpkin Spice Chaos

by bansheee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 5+1 Things, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Community: HPFT, M/M, Ministry of Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 18:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6435871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bansheee/pseuds/bansheee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the youngest Director of the Muggle Liaison Office ever to be appointed, Scorpius Malfoy doesn’t have time to date. Scorpius hardly has time to drink his morning coffee before he’s hearing a new sob story concerning Muggles. </p>
<p>His newest client has a lot of stories. </p>
<p>-or-</p>
<p>Four times Hugo Weasley needed help from the Director of the Muggle Liaison Office, and one time he didn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pumpkin Spice Chaos

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WalkingDredd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalkingDredd/gifts).



Scorpius Malfoy had a routine.  
  
Every day, Scorpius would take the Floo Network from his flat in Yorkshire to the Ministry of Magic. Once inside, Scorpius walked straight for the tiny café in the Atrium and gave a polite nod to whichever barista was working when they said, “Good morning, Mr. Malfoy! The usual?” He took his red-eye and walk towards the lifts, where he’d ride from level eight to level three. He would stand on the opposite side of the buttons so he could drink some of his coffee without having to pick floors for other people as he rode up.  
  
His routine was never the same when he got to level three.  
  
Scorpius never quite knew what he was getting into when he walked off the lift into the Muggle Liaison Office. It’d been ten years since he finished his career at Hogwarts, and every day a new surprise was waiting for them.  
  
Scorpius didn’t get surprised anymore.  
  
Ignoring the woman with half a head of singed off hair trying to catch his eye contact, Scorpius walked straight for his assistant’s desk. There wasn’t an open seat in their waiting room.  
  
“Your first client is waiting in your office,” Maria said, holding out a stack of case files.  
  
Scorpius tightened his grip on his coffee. “You let them in my office? I should fire you.”  
  
Maria laughed at him.  
  
With a grimace, Scorpius snatched the folders out of her hand, skimming the name of the first one. “What’s in my office?”  
  
“Who, is a man by the name—”  
  
Scorpius sighed, interrupting her. Maria was biting back laughter. “ _What_ is it?” he asked, tone sharper.  
  
“MMW.”  
  
Scorpius narrowed his eyes at Maria. “Can you send for another coffee?” After a second, he added, “Get yourself something, too. Put it on my account.”  
  
“He’s cute, your MMW,” Maria said, reaching for her pad of empty inter-department memos.  
  
Scorpius ignored her and headed for his office.  
  
Even if someone put a wand to his head, when Scorpius called Maria for his next appointment he would not admit that the first thing he thought when he saw his client was that she was right. While, at first glance the messy flop of red hair and sharp jawline made Scorpius inhale softly, he quickly withdrew when the man stood up and held out his hand.  
  
“Director Malfoy, right? Thank you so much for taking my case. My name is—”  
  
“Weasley comma Hugo, looking for a Muggle Memory Wipe,” Scorpius read off of the first folder in his stack, ignoring the handshake and heading around his desk. He looked up to see Hugo pulling his hand back and running it through his hair, making it stick up. Scorpius waited until Hugo sat down to say, “Tell me what happened.”  
  
Hugo sighed. Scorpius almost felt bad for the dejected look the young man had. He saw this look countless times a day; a witch or wizard in a relationship with a Muggle, thinking it’s going to last forever until they tell them about magic and the Muggle freaks out. “I was just… I was so sure with this one. Sheila, her name is – was – is Sheila. She was into that Muggle show on the telly; the one with the terrible werewolf and the inaccurate vampires—”  
  
“Tell me what happened when you told her about magic,” Scorpius clarified, taking a sip of his now lukewarm coffee.  
  
“Oh,” Hugo muttered. Scorpius watched as a touch of pink filled in around his cheekbones. “It was our anniversary. She gave me a key to her flat, and told her I couldn’t accept it unless she knew the whole truth. I did an _Aguamenti_ spell with my wand and she screamed and told me to get out.”  
  
Scorpius stared at the man sitting across his desk. He stared until he saw Hugo start to internally panic.  
  
Scorpius was the youngest person to ever be elected to the role as the Director of the Muggle Liaison office. The man before him – his previous boss – was one hundred and eight when he finally retired. Scorpius was elected into the position a month later – he told himself – because of his ability to deal with clients with clinical like emotions, with the quick ability to assess the situation and deliver instructions to his field team on what to do to fix the situation.  
  
“You couldn’t just tell her it was a fake toy?” Scorpius asked in disbelief. “I’m pretty sure Muggle magic shops sell toy wands that do _exactly_ that.” He just graduated top of his class in Muggle Studies, but what did he know.  
  
Hugo stared at him. “I— I panicked.”  
  
Scorpius took three deep breaths before standing from his desk. His tone felt robotic as he said, “Leave her full name and address with my assistant, and we’ll send an officer to modify her memory. Ministry Law states that once we modify the Muggle’s memory, the magical party that requested the case is forbidden to contact the Muggle, for both parties’ safety and wellbeing. The magical party is required to sign a contract atoning to this. Have a nice day Mr. Weasley.”  
  
*  
  
Scorpius had all but forgotten about Hugo Weasley over the next few months. Sure, the name was familiar – Rose Weasley was a friend from Hogwarts and he was vaguely aware of a younger sibling there – but familiar names weren’t exactly uncommon among the wizarding community. Confidentiality was part of Scorpius’ job, and he and Rose hadn’t spoken in years.  
  
Sure, when Scorpius left his office to call in his next client that day, he avoided eye contact with Maria, but it was just because he knew one of her suggestive eyebrow wiggles was coming, and Scorpius hadn’t finished his coffee, and was therefore not ready to deal with Maria.  
  
But the months passed, and Scorpius forgot all about the red stubble on his beautiful jawline. He went through his routine, drank enough coffee to fill The Great Lake, and tried not to murder his clients on a daily basis.  
  
So of course, just as Scorpius had forgotten all about Hugo Weasley, he walked into his office to see the red-head slouching in the seat across from his desk.  
  
The stubble he didn’t remember had grown in more. It was cleaner than Scorpius expected from the disgruntled expression the man was giving him. “Weasley comma Hugo, you’re back with another MMW.”  
  
Hugo laughed uncomfortably. “I didn’t think you’d remember me.”  
  
“How could I forget the _Aguamenti_ incident?” Scorpius wouldn’t admit the real reason he couldn’t forget about the man in front of him. Scorpius watched color prickle across Hugo’s cheeks. Feeling slightly bad at bringing up their previous meeting, Scorpius said, “Tell me what happened.”  
  
Hugo paced back and forth in front of Scorpius’ desk. “It was an accident this time!”  
  
Scorpius heard that ten times a day. He made a gesture for Hugo to go on.  
  
“Tasha, my beautiful girlfriend… well, ex-girlfriend, she threw all of my clothes out on her front lawn this morning. They weren’t even in boxes!” Hugo looked to Scorpius and winced. “Sorry, no details. Her dog ran in front of a car,” Hugo explained. “She was sobbing and the dog was in so much pain, I used a quick _Episkey_ and fixed its leg. You know, you’d think she’d be more grateful, but no, she—”  
  
If it were any other client, Scorpius would have stopped them right there. He knew the essentials; the dog’s leg magically mended itself and the Muggle girl freaked. But he watched as a flash of sadness crossed Hugo’s expression, and Scorpius said nothing to stop him.  
  
“—She called me the devil. She took her dog and ran! I got her that dog.”  
  
Scorpius bit his lip. He wouldn’t offer sympathy. He wouldn’t break as Hugo looked to him, waiting for an answer to his story.  
  
“I—you’ll—” Scorpius was a professional! He trained for these very moments, where he wanted to offer sympathy to his clients, but knew he needed to remain professional. Hugo looked on the verge of tears.  
  
“There are… other Grindylows in the lake?” Scorpius tried.  
  
Hugo’s expression was comical. Scorpius tried to give him what he hoped was a convincing smile, but it felt awkward to even him.  
  
“…Right,” Hugo said slowly. He stared at Scorpius, and Scorpius couldn’t help but think at how adorable his confused expression was.  
  
Screw it.  
  
“What a bitch.”  
  
Hugo’s eyes widened. Scorpius finally stopped holding back his smile. Hugo was still staring at him, and Scorpius watched as the furrow in his eyebrow went away.  
  
Scorpius touched his tie, feeling nervous. “Sorry, but you saved her dog! The dog you got her!”  
  
If he thought Hugo’s confused expression was adorable, it was nothing compared to his smile. Scorpius decided his new purpose in life would solely be to make Hugo Weasley smile.  
  
“I suppose,” Hugo muttered, looking towards the floor of Scorpius’ office. He was still smiling, and Scorpius felt like he was going to melt into a puddle on the floor.  
  
*  
  
This time, Scorpius didn’t forget Hugo. Of course, it wasn’t because of their shared smiles and extra-second-too-long handshake as Hugo left his office that day, Scorpius told himself.  
  
It was because Hugo was in his office two weeks later.  
  
Scorpius was shuffling a stack of crème colored envelopes, handed to him out of order by Maria. The grin she’d given him as she handed him the papers told him that she did it on purpose. He was considering her termination as she smiled and said “Your MMW is—”  
  
“Let me guess,” Scorpius said icily, “already in my office?”  
  
Scorpius didn’t wait for Maria’s answer.  
  
Hugo at least had the decency to look guilty as he turned and stood to greet Scorpius. He held out his hand and Scorpius stared at it.  
  
“Is this a joke?” Scorpius turned and looked out towards Maria. She was already standing from her desk arguing with a man who was trying to shove a large cat across her desk.  
  
He looked back to Hugo. “It’s been two weeks. You’re here for another MMW? You told _another_ Muggle about magic!?”  
  
Hugo recoiled. “This one was an accident! An actual accident!”  
  
The door to his office flew shut behind him. Scorpius wouldn’t fire Maria today.  
  
“An accident,” Scorpius deadpanned. He shook his head as he walked to his desk.  
  
Hugo looked tired. The first two times he came into Scorpius’ office he was dressed in nice robes, and had cleanly trimmed facial hair. Now the man in front of him was wearing Muggle clothing, and his beard looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks.  
  
Two weeks, to be exact.  
  
“I was so sure I loved Taylor,” Hugo said. Scorpius had to physically resist the urge to roll his eyes. “He was so open-minded about everything, and with Muggles you know how they can be.”  
  
Scorpius did not hear ‘how Muggles could be’. In fact, he hardly heard anything past the first word that Hugo spoke.  
  
 _He._  
  
Hugo’s Muggle Taylor was a man. Hugo dated a man. A Muggle man who Hugo was telling Scorpius a story about that he wasn’t listening.  
  
“—and he was crying and I was crying and the dreidel was on fire—”  
  
“Okay, okay!” Scorpius held his hand up. He felt like he was being completely obvious as he stared at the man in front of him. The man who dated a man, like how Scorpius was a man who dated men.  
  
Just not recently.  
  
“Right,” Scorpius said, realizing he was staring.  
  
He needed to know more.  
  
“I’ll be taking care of this one personally,” Scorpius felt himself saying. “I’ll be back in a moment.”  
  
To avoid looking at the way he knew Hugo was staring at him, Scorpius stood from his desk and grabbed his cloak.  
  
This was so unprofessional. The Director of the Muggle Liaison office wasn’t supposed to do field work. Scorpius served his time in the field for eight years under his previous supervisor, and was supposed to be the one delegating his staff towards the memory modifications.  
  
“Cancel my next appointment!” Scorpius called out to Maria. He knew how bad it probably looked, him running out of his office with someone rushing behind him. He was certain Maria was going to make a comment about it when he came back. “What’s the address?” Scorpius asked Hugo, who was trailing behind him.  
  
Hugo rattled off numbers and a street, and Scorpius focused on the words as he prepared himself to Apparate.  
  
“Am I… am I going with you?”  
  
As much as he wanted Hugo to go with and possibly make a pit stop in his own bedroom on the way back, Scorpius knew it was far beyond unprofessional to bring a client to a modification job, especially if it was for the very same client.  
  
“No. Go back to my office. Tell my assistant to stop sending those memos to the Brain Room.”  
  
He closed his eyes and thought of the location Hugo told him. He visualized pavement and a house until he felt a tugging behind his navel and the image in his head became a reality.  
  
Straightening out his tie, he walked up the path to the house and knocked on the front door. He heard shuffling inside, until the handle twisted and the door flew open.  
  
A man with tight black curls and a large nose was standing in front of him, so Scorpius stood up taller.  
  
“Hello. My name is Scorpius—”  
  
“Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested,” the man said. He was good looking, Scorpius thought; Hugo probably liked dark hair and broad shoulders, of which he had neither. There were heavy bags under his eyes, and Scorpius knew this was the man who just found out about a whole different world hidden in his own.  
  
Scorpius bit his lip at being interrupted. “Nothing to buy here today, I’m afraid. I’m here on behalf of the Muggle Liaison department for the Ministry of Magic. I’ve heard you had a bit of an accidental encounter with a wizard, and I’m here to wipe your memory.”  
  
The man blanched, and before he could react Scorpius flicked his wand and replaced the memories. He changed the fire from Hugo’s wand to fire from a candle, and his memory of Hugo to a different, random red-head. Now, if Taylor Wellington ever saw Hugo Weasley in public, he wouldn’t remember that Hugo dropped his wand and the magical item shot out a jet of blue to light to his grandmother’s dreidel on fire.  
  
Hugo watched as the man’s glazed over expression turned happy. He waited until Taylor focused and looked at him. With a small frown, Taylor said, “Sorry, were you saying something?”  
  
“Thanks for your time, sir,” Scorpius said politely. Still shaking his head in confusion, Taylor closed his front door as Scorpius left the walkway. When he was sure no one would see, Scorpius Apparated back to the Ministry of Magic.  
  
He walked down the corridor back to his office, avoiding Maria as he did. He saw her sipping on a blended coffee with enough whipped topping to bury herself in, so he rolled his eyes and made a beeline for his office.  
  
Hugo stood as soon as he entered. He was holding a steaming cup of coffee, and when Scorpius noticed it, Hugo held it out to him.  
  
“Here,” he muttered, “as a thank you. And an apology.”  
  
Scorpius took the coffee with a confused expression. He wanted to tell Hugo that he was just doing his job, and that it wasn’t a big deal. He’d wiped hundreds of Muggles’ memories before, and he was only at the start of his career.  
  
What he said was, “Why do you date so many Muggles?”  
  
Hugo laughed, and Scorpius watched as his cheeks filled with pink. “I suppose I almost am a regular client of yours at this point. It’s not really as spectacular of a reason as you’re probably thinking.”  
  
Scorpius was thinking how wanted to see how far he could make that blush go. He’d been so busy _not_ thinking about Hugo for the past few months, he’d all but forgotten how hopelessly single he still was.  
  
However, he did not tell Hugo that.  
  
When Scorpius only nodded for him to go on, Hugo did. “The boring old cliché truth is this; Muggles don’t know why ‘Weasley’ means I can’t leave my flat without the gossip column of _The Daily Prophet_ writing an article about it.”  
  
Scorpius frowned, a familiar pang of annoyance filling him. He remembered all too well when _Former Death Eater’s Son becomes youngest Muggle Liaison Director in History_  ran as a headline in the wretched paper.  
  
“The wench that publishes those articles works exactly four floors below us.” He grimaced at the floor. He sometimes saw the Editor in Chief for The Daily Prophet while he was grabbing lunch from the small Ministry café. He always wanted to ask why they would hire such a vile excuse of a writer.  
  
When he looked up, he offered Hugo a small smile. Hugo returned it with one so big that Scorpius had to restrain himself from crossing his office and ruining the client dating regulations.  
  
Instead, he shook his head and laughed quietly. “I suppose I never thought of it like that.” He looked to Hugo again and shared another smile.  
  
Scorpius felt himself falling, and didn’t want to stop.  
  
*  
  
In times of trouble, Scorpius often liked to make lists of pros and cons. He blamed his Ravenclaw roots.  
  
Hugo Weasley was the biggest _trouble_ he’d experienced in some time.  
  
Scorpius grabbed a piece of spare parchment and a quill from his desk, drawing a large ‘T’ shape in the middle.  
  
 _Con: Hugo is a client, and I would have to deal with Jeremy in HR before dating him. Jeremy is an arse._  
  
 _Pro: He’s a war kid, and he understands what it’s like to have famous parents._  
  
Infamous, in his own case.  
  
 _Con: he dates_ _a lot_.  
  
Scorpius underlined ‘a lot’. A thought had occurred to him while he stopped to purchase his second coffee the previous day He only heard about the cases that Hugo _told_ Muggles about magic. Since Hugo couldn’t possibly be stupid enough to tell _every_ Muggle he dated about magic and wizards, there had to be others Scorpius didn’t know about.  
  
 _Pro: Jawline and stubble._  
  
Enough said.  
  
 _Con: Hugo is chaotic._  
  
Scorpius liked being organized. He liked having his day planned out, and liked going to the same coffee shop and ordering the same thing every day. He liked having tea with his mother on Wednesdays and going out for drinks with his cousin Teddy every second Friday of the month.  
  
 _Pro: you haven’t felt like this about another human in a long time._  
  
As he scratched his quill over the paper to scribble out the last line, he heard a pair of footsteps pounding in the corridor outside his flat. He looked up at the clock and shook his head when he realized it was after two in the morning.  
  
There was a shrill, shrieking laughter coming from the hallway as multiple pairs of footsteps ran past his door. Scorpius gritted his teeth and stood from his desk. The screaming ceased, but he heard an incessant pounding coming from down the corridor that had to be stopped.  
  
Maria often told him he was an eighty-year-old trapped in a thirty-year-old’s body (twenty-seven, thank you very much, Maria, you’re fired). With that knowledge he had absolutely no problem storming towards the door to his flat and yanking it open.  
  
“Oi!” he shouted down the corridor. The knocking was coming from the flat around the corner. The knocking finally stopped. “It’s really bloody late and the real adults in this building have actual jobs!”  
  
The noise from down the corridor ceased, so Scorpius rolled his eyes. Sure, it was a Friday night, but that didn’t mean drunkenly rampaging through the building’s corridors was suddenly acceptable.  
  
“Director Malfoy?”  
  
Scorpius thought he felt something in his neck crack at how quickly he looked up.  
  
“Hugo?”  
  
He must have kicked a lot of puppies in a previous life.  
  
“Bloody hell, this is a drunken dream come true.” Hugo was very obviously intoxicated; his words sounded like he had a large wad of Drooble’s Best in his mouth. Hugo started staggering over to him, using the wall for support.  
  
Scorpius ran forward as Hugo stumbled particularly badly, nearly falling flat on his face. “What are you doing in my building?” Scorpius asked he held out his hands in front of Hugo.  
  
Hugo batted Scorpius’ hands away playfully, laughing as he did so. “This is Roxanne’s building! Except Roxanne is a j—” he hiccupped, and took a few deep breaths. “jerk, and locked me out of her flat. What are _you_ doing here?”  
  
Scorpius stared. “I live here.”  
  
“Oh cool so I’ll just sleep with you tonight,” Hugo said, pushing past Scorpius and heading towards his flat, of which he knew because Scorpius left his front door open.  
  
Scorpius ran towards the open door. Hugo, being much more intoxicated and therefore much less coordinated than Scorpius, couldn’t quite stumble quickly enough. Scorpius stood in the threshold of his flat with an arm on either side of his doorframe.  
  
“You cannot—sleep here.” Hugo’s casual comment made Scorpius’ cheeks feel hot. He glanced over to his work station, where he could still see the parchment with his list sitting right on top.  
  
When he looked back to Hugo, he saw the man holding his hand to his mouth, looking paler than Scorpius had ever seen him.  
  
“Bloody hell— please don’t vomit, my loo’s there to the left,” Scorpius stepped out of his way and watched as the red-head made a beeline through his flat and towards the bathroom. Scorpius cringed when he heard retching noises not a minute later.  
  
After making a stop at his desk and burying his list under a stack of case files, he walked towards the bathroom. Hugo at least had the decency to shut the door, so Scorpius knocked.  
  
“There’s a Hangover Draft in the cabinet if you’d like it,” he called through the door.  
  
Hugo said something, but Scorpius couldn’t make out what. He saw a few flashes of colored light from under the bathroom door; he really hoped Hugo wasn’t doing drunken magic in his bathroom that would lose him his security deposit.  
  
It was a few long, quiet minutes of standing outside his own loo before Hugo finally opened the door. Scorpius could tell right away that he’d taken the Hangover Draft and the magic was quick cleaning spells, as he was standing up without swaying and Scorpius’ bathroom had a fresh lemon scent.  
  
 _Sheepish_ didn’t even begin to describe Hugo’s expression. “Will ‘I am _so_ bloody sorry’ even begin to cover this?” Hugo asked, cringing as he did.  
  
“This crosses all sorts of client protection clauses at the Ministry,” Scorpius said. He walked towards his living room, hoping Hugo would get the hint and follow him. He sat down on his couch, and when Hugo stood in front of it, he gestured for the red-head to sit.  
  
“Who’s Roxanne, then? Another Muggle I’ll be hearing about in a few weeks?” Scorpius asked. He knew there were at least a few magic people that lived in the building, as he often saw owls flying to windows besides his, but he was in a primarily Muggle neighborhood.  
  
Hugo cringed. “Bloody hell, I’m such a mess. Thankfully I can say, no, she’s my cousin. She’s magic, too.”  
  
Scorpius knew he was failing at hiding his smile. He told himself he was just laughing at Hugo’s joke, and that he wasn’t happy because Hugo was _not_ on a date with a girl that lived in his building.  
  
“She took me out to get me to meet this friend of hers, even after I told her I wasn’t interested,” Hugo explained. “They didn’t show, so Roxanne and I got… really smashed. She met someone and is probably—”  
  
“Has anyone ever told you your stories are much too long?” Scorpius interrupted.  
  
Hugo let out a sharp laugh. “You, once or twice.” He grinned, and Scorpius felt his heart race in his chest.  
  
“I think it’s been three times,” Scorpius quipped.  
  
 _Chaotic. He’s chaos._  
  
He felt very aware when their shared laughter had them shifting closer on the couch. He looked to Hugo, watching as the small, reserved but brilliant smile lit up his whole face.  
  
Scorpius leaned forward, wanting chaos and all it brought.  
  
There was a sharp knock on his front door that startled them both to opposite ends of the couch. Scorpius felt like his heart was about to hammer out of his chest.  
  
“Hello!?” a woman’s voice called from outside his door. “Is Hugo Weasley in there?”  
  
Scorpius turned to Hugo, who was already standing. Scorpius did the same, pretending to straighten out his shirt to stall while Hugo walked towards the door.  
  
“Hey, Roxanne,” Hugo said as he opened the front door. Roxanne was obviously still drunk as she was swaying in her spot.  
  
“Oh man,” she said, pushing Hugo out of the way to look at Scorpius. “I am so sorry about my cousin.”  
  
“It’s fine,” Scorpius said. He avoided the eye contact that Hugo was trying to make. He couldn’t stand to see whatever expression Hugo what Scorpius almost did. “You should really be quieter this late at night, though. The woman across the hall has newborn twins.”  
  
Roxanne looked confused, so Scorpius closed his front door before she could answer.  
  
After locking the deadbolt, Scorpius leaned against the door and slid to the floor.  
  
He had another pro he could add to his list:  
  
 _Hugo almost kissed him back._  
  
*  
  
Hugo was drunk that night.  
  
Hugo had just been drunk, and was under a magical sobriety potion’s influence.  
  
Hugo hooked up with a lot of people; it didn’t mean anything to him.  
  
Scorpius had a list. A list he went through in his head quite often. It was a list of perfectly logical reasons why Hugo Weasley would have almost kissed him and then not tried to contact him for two months. He knew he was beyond the point of obsessing, but he couldn’t help it. Remembering back to that night, Scorpius was so sure that Hugo was almost leaning in.  
  
One thing was for certain though. Since the night he closed his door on Hugo and Roxanne, Hugo hadn’t showed up in his office.  
  
It was a good thing, though, Scorpius would tell himself. If Hugo wasn’t showing up in his office, it was because he was in a happy relationship and things were going great for him.  
  
People never came to Scorpius’ office without some kind of problem.  
  
Like the woman sitting across from him now.  
  
“… and it’s not like their daughter _wanted_ to be born a witch. She didn’t ask to be thrown into this world with awful, unsupportive parents. All you would have to do is modify their memories and they’ll think they’re her aunt and uncle, and I’m her mother. I’d do it myself and just take her, but it’s—”  
  
“Illegal.” Scorpius finished for her. “It’s illegal.”  
  
The woman’s frown deepened. “They shouldn’t teach a course on Memory Charms at Hogwarts if they don’t want the general public to use them.”  
  
“Ma’am, I understand that this is a tough situation, but if you keep threatening to use a Memory Charm on your Muggle sister, I’m going to have to document it in my report.”  
  
She let out a loud, annoyed sigh. “I’m not ‘ _threatening to use a Memory Charm on my Muggle sister_ ’, I’m just saying I could do it, and it would be done and over. You’re being unreasonable about this.” Her tone was mocking, making Scorpius grind his teeth together.  
  
He barely, just barely, resisted the urge to beat his head on his desk.  
  
“There is a very good, very long list of reasons why the Ministry regulates Memory Charms, Ma’am. For legal and moral reasons, as well as the safety and well-being of the minor, we have to build a case against your sister and her husband before we can just go in and remove the memories of their child. I want to see a magical child into good hands just as much as you do, but I can’t legally go on your word alone.”  
  
“So what are you going to do, just leave her in that house?” Tears started building up in the woman’s eyes, so Scorpius pushed the box of tissues on his desk towards her.  
  
“For now, we’re going to send an officer to monitor the house. She’s my best officer, and an Animagi, so to everyone else she’ll just look like a Peregrine sitting in a tree. She’ll report back in forty-eight hours, and with her findings we’ll make a visit to the house to talk to the parents.”  
  
“So what if nothing happens in ‘forty-eight hours’!?” Tears were streaming down the woman’s face. “Is Jennie just supposed to _live_ with it until her parents throw her on the street?”  
  
“I am a trained professional, Ma’am, my office and the Ministry have ways of figuring out things. If nothing is revealed in my officer’s inspection, the home visit will shed light.”  
  
“ _Shed light_ – well that’s just you spewing Ministry hogwash, isn’t it?” The woman stood and threw her purse over her shoulder.  
  
“I understand that this is frustrating,” Scorpius repeated, also standing. “But I have to caution you about taking matters into your own hands with this. You’re only going to put Jennie’s case at risk if you try to do something unsanctioned by the Ministry.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah,” she said over her shoulder, already on her way to his office door. “Don’t actually take matters into my own hands, or you’ll send the big bad Ministry after me. I’ll be back in forty-eight hours!”  
  
The whole waiting room of the Muggle Liaison office was quiet as she stormed through it towards the lifts.  
  
Scorpius followed her out of his office, clutching her case file angrily. He waited until she was out of hearing distance before he dropped the file onto Maria’s desk.  
  
Wizard Relocation and Memory Removal were always tough cases, and always required decision making instead of a quick officer and a wave of a wand. Scorpius glared at Maria.  
  
“Send Officer Patil to the address in this report, she’s on this case only for the next two days. If you ever set me up with a WRMR before noon again, I’ll fire you faster than you can say—”  
  
“—your next case is running late.” Maria said, unaffected by Scorpius’ threat. “Something about—”  
  
“In that case,” Scorpius interrupted her right back, “I’m getting another coffee. Don’t let anyone into my office while I’m gone.”  
  
Maria saluted him, and he listened to her rattle off her order as he stormed off towards the lifts.  
  
Scorpius always told himself he moved up at his job so quickly because of his ability to control his emotions. That didn’t mean, though, that cases never affected him. He really felt for the woman who just left his office, and as much as he wanted to agree with her and relocate the girl as quickly as possible, it went against protocol.  
  
He sighed as he left the lift onto the Atrium floor. The area was packed with witches and wizards on lunch breaks, talking and laughing around the fountain. He made a beeline towards the Ministry café.   
There was a small queue, so Scorpius stood behind a man with floppy beanie on and waited. He wished he would have brought his next case file with him so he didn’t have to pretend to awkwardly stare at the menu while he waited in line. That, and maybe he’d actually know what he was getting into when he got back to his office.  
  
Beanie guy took a step forward and ordered. “I’ll take a red-eye, and a pumpkin latte.”  
  
Scorpius looked up from the ground. “Hugo?”  
  
Now that he looked closer, Scorpius could see short tuffs of red hair peeking out from under the beanie. Sure enough, Hugo turned around with a surprised grin.  
  
“Director Malfoy!” Scorpius felt like Hugo’s smile was lighting up the entire Atrium. He even felt his own smile lift, despite his stressful morning. “I was just about to stop and see you!”  
  
And just as quick as it came in the first place, Scorpius felt his smile drop. Hugo turned around to pay for his coffees and Scorpius felt himself recoiling.  
  
Hugo turned around with a sheepish smile. “Uh, that red-eye was actually for you, so…” Scorpius watched the color fill his cheeks.  
  
Scorpius followed him towards the pickup counter. “You’re my one o’clock? Are you seriously coming to my office with _another_ Muggle problem?”  
  
Hugo’s mouth fell open, and the color in his cheeks deepened. He fidgeted with the hat on his head for a second. “Heh, I suppose I probably deserve that, with my track record.”  
  
The barista called Hugo’s name out, so he stepped away and grabbed the two coffees.  
  
“I’m actually visiting my mum for lunch, and her office is on the floor above yours. I thought you could probably use this and…” He stopped his sentence short and shoved one of the cups into Scorpius’ hand. “I’ve actually got to run meet my mum, so I’ll see you around.”  
  
Scorpius stared as Hugo took off towards the lifts. He felt terrible, but he couldn’t get his brain to work quick enough to catch up to Hugo. Instead, he grabbed a few packets of sugar and trudged towards the lifts.  
  
He stared at the buttons as he rode the lift back up to the Muggle Liaison department. Hugo was going to come visit him. Hugo _bought him coffee_ , and Scorpius insulted him.  
  
Scorpius looked at the paper cup in his hand. He dragged his thumb over the letters of Hugo’s name written on the cup. Bringing it to his lips, he took a large drink, and promptly started coughing.  
  
Pumpkin.  
  
The overwhelming amount of sugar and nutmeg in the cup took him by surprise, but the flavor of the pumpkin and sweet milk had him rolling his eyes back and taking another drink. He wondered how he would ever be able to go back to his perfectly highly caffeinated old favorite. The lift opened on his floor, and Scorpius stood up straight and adjusted his tie.  
  
The gates weren’t more than half way open before Hugo Weasley slipped inside and slammed onto the door close button.  
  
“How do you drink this?” he asked, grimacing. “There isn’t even any flavor to it, it’s just espresso and gross.” Scorpius watched the corner of the man’s mouth quiver with held back laughter.  
  
Scorpius felt like he was going crazy. He held up a few of the sugar packets. Hugo looked at them with a raised eyebrow, before grabbing them out of Scorpius’ hand. Hugo grabbed the white packets out of Scorpius’ hand and tossed them over his shoulder.  
  
Chaotic.  
  
His heart hammered in his chest at the way Hugo looked at him. He felt like he was running in slow motion as Hugo crossed the lift and pressed his lips to Scorpius’. Scorpius brought the hand that wasn’t holding Hugo’s pumpkin latte to Hugo’s shirt and pulled him closer. Hugo went with him, pushing Scorpius against the wall of the lift. He felt Hugo’s fingers touching along the back of his neck.  
  
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he recognized the sound of the lift opening. Scorpius didn’t care. Hugo’s mouth was moving down his jaw, his stubble scratching along it in the best way. His fists were balled in Scorpius’ work robes Scorpius felt the latte fall from his hand.  
  
“Ahem.”  
  
Hugo jolted away from him at the noise, and they both turned to see the Head of the Auror Office staring into the lift, a horrified expression on his face.  
  
“Hey, Uncle Harry.” Hugo’s voice was raspy and sheepish, and Scorpius wanted to die.  
  
Scorpius cleared his throat. “Hello Auror Potter.”  
  
“Director Malfoy,” Harry said with a nod. “Hugo, you’re here for lunch with your mother?”  
  
Hugo nodded.  
  
Auror Potter stepped into the lift between them. “Director Malfoy, I’m assuming you’re heading back down to floor three? I was just on my way there myself. Or are you meeting Director Granger-Weasley for lunch as well?”  
  
Scorpius stared at Hugo.  
  
Ride the lift down with the most famous wizard alive, or meet the most powerful witch alive for lunch? Why wasn’t ‘be eaten alive by dragons’ an option?  
  
When Scorpius didn’t answer, Hugo grabbed his arm and tugged him out of the lift. He stared as Hugo waved goodbye to his uncle as the lift descended.  
  
“No, no, I pick the lift.” Scorpius turned and repeatedly pressed the button on the wall to call the lift back. He looked back to Hugo. “You kissed me.”  
  
Hugo grinned. “I did.”  
  
Scorpius stopped pressing the button, finally registering the last two minutes of his life. “You… wanted to kiss me?”  
  
Hugo repeated himself, grinning wider. “I did.”  
  
As always, Hugo’s brilliant smile was contagious. Scorpius felt himself grinning right back at the man in front of him.  
  
“Did… did you fake any of those Muggle reports to get meetings with me?”  
  
Hugo’s laughter was just as contagious as his smile.  
  
*  
  
It was one month later when Scorpius actually had lunch with Hermione Granger-Weasley for the first time. After Hugo’s mother accused Scorpius of stopping in his tracks in front of her and running the other direction through the Atrium (which Scorpius still argues she had no proof of), Scorpius knew he could not avoid the moment any further.  
  
It was six months later when Scorpius realized more of Hugo’s things were at his flat than Hugo’s own, and decided to duplicate his key.  
  
It was two years, four months, and nine days later when Hugo set a Pumpkin Latte on Scorpius’ desk with a ring resting on top.  
  
It was nine seconds later when Scorpius said yes.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a gift for Tammi - she's been asking me to write a Scorpius/Hugo for ages, and I've had this half put together in my WIPs for about as long. How I've managed to keep it a secret from her, I'll never know. Tammi, thank you for always being there for me and being such a great friend. You deserve so much more than a story. Love you dear! 
> 
> (also posted on HPFF.com)


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